Almost twice as many women as men aged over 50 are expecting to work past state retirement age as people feel increasingly forced to do so to survive financially, research has suggested.

More than three quarters (78pc) of women aged over 50 who are still working said they plan to continue past retirement age, equating to 4.1 million women if the figures were projected across the UK, the study from LV= found.

Meanwhile, 52pc of men in this age group who have not yet retired said they plan to work past retirement age, which would work out at around 2.4 million men on a national basis.

At an estimated 6.5 million, the total number of over-50s expecting to work past state retirement age has increased by 43pc on the 4.5 million people planning to do so when similar research was carried out in 2010.

The study suggested that more people are feeling forced to work longer out of necessity rather than through choice.

More than half (52pc) of working over-50s who expect to work beyond state retirement age cited "affordability" as their main reason. A third (36pc) said they would remain in work because they enjoy it, showing a drop from 43pc when the research was carried out in 2010.

Despite more women than men saying they plan to continue working, men who do plan to work past retirement age will do so for around a year longer than their female counterparts. Men intend to work 6.9 years past state retirement age on average, compared with 5.8 years for women.

London was named as the place where over-50s say they will work furthest past the state retirement age, at an average of 7.4 years. People living in Scotland come a close second, where those who plan to work past state retirement age expect to do so for an extra 7.1 years.

Ray Chinn, LV= head of pensions, said: "With the Government increasing the state pension age we would hope that those approaching retirement wouldn't feel they need to work beyond it. Unfortunately, this is not the case as many find that they have insufficient funds in their pension pots.

"Although there are many people who feel too young to retire and want to work for as long as they can, our research shows the majority say they will be forced to do so to survive financially."

The research comes amid Government moves to tackle the pensions savings crisis amid concerns that people are not putting enough aside for their old age.